The story of Lizzie Borden and her axe has fascinated and perplexed people for over a century. The most intriguing cases are always those not beyond a reasonable doubt. The unsolved cases or the solved ones where something just isn’t quite right. If we knew more about this case, it would probably lose the lustre that draws so many. We’ve seen this story countless times in pop culture and most know the famous rhyme,

“Lizzie Borden took an axe,

And gave her mother forty whacks;

When she saw what she had done,

She gave her father forty-one.””

Fascinated myself by the story, I leapt on the chance to get my hands on a copy of this debut novel.

I gave this book four stars, although I’m still unsure if it’s only because the story itself is riveting. If I were not a true crime nut with a deep interest in this case, I doubt I would have enjoyed this book.

I understand a re-telling of this crime must not have been easy, considering the lack of information on the case due to the time period. Although it seems the author grasped onto the little evidence there is of the case, and regurgiated these facts over and over until they almost became redundant. The author definitely missed out on the “show, don’t tell” memo, and it felt like she had to draw out and overuse details in order to create filler, because let’s face it, you can only do so much with the information given.

Despite all this, See What I Have Done is an interesting take on the case. I enjoyed the different perspectives throughout the book, which gave an otherwise static story, a bit of depth. I also liked the author’s spin on Benjamin Borden, giving the story a bit of creativity. The characters were all morbid and somehow, stinky, but I think this was because the author was trying to set the scene for a horror. The writing was good, and is truly what saved this book. Had it not been for her style, I would have given up at the tenth time they mentioned mutton or someone bit into a pear.

I think anyone who is interested in Lizzie Borden should definitely read this book, although for those who don’t love all things creepy and sinister, I’m sure this novel would be considered quite boring and maybe even a tedious read.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel for an honest review.
The most satisfying part of this book was already knowing the outcome. This left tingling feelings in my skin after setting it down between readings. I really enjoyed the mysterious writing and the glimpse into Lizzie’s point of view. A really good read for a fall spooky night.

3.5 stars!

SEE WHAT I HAVE DONE is a beautifully written re-telling of the Lizzie Borden story.

I've always been fascinated by Lizzie Borden. Having lived all my life in Massachusetts, it's a story everyone is familiar with, even children, because of that horrible rhyme: <b> Lizzie Borden took an axe...</b> Because of my interest and due to the reviews of some of my friends, I decided to finally read this book that I had requested from NetGalley last year. I'm glad I did!

This narrative was split into several different view points which was a bit confusing at first, but became easier as the tale went on. Because the story was told in this way, there ended up being a lot of repetition as each character had mutton soup at various times and they seemed to be preoccupied with pears.

That said, language is used beautifully even if it was a bit quirky. In fact, the prose was so lyrical at times that it distracted from the story. The characters were vividly drawn though and had strong personalities. I'm not sure how much of the narrative was actually true, but just about everyone in this tale is horrid. The creepy uncle who hangs about touching Lizzie and her sister in inappropriate ways. Mr. Borden who wasn't above smacking his grown children in the face whenever he was displeased. Mrs. Borden, (who was NOT Lizzie's real mother, by the way), seemed more of a doormat than a person. Lastly, Emma, Lizzie's sister, who cannot seem to figure out the simplest of mysteries, even when all the facts were right there under her nose.

All in all, I did enjoy this story, most especially because of the quirky, but eloquent prose. The story has been told before, but I liked how this tale was presented-so vividly, yet convoluted at the same time. I look forward to reading Sarah Schmidt's work in the future, and I do recommend this book, though it might not work for everyone.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*

An interesting book with complexity. A shocking murder and the story unfolds. Was hard to follow in parts but woild read another by the author.

See What I Have Done is an interesting fictionalized account of the Lizzie Borden scandal.

I did not love the narration style of this one, though I think the premise and the story is very interesting.

At first, I had a hard time "getting into" this book. I liked the plot and was originally expecting more it with all of the hype surrounding it. As a fan of true crime fiction, I found the novel to not be as thrilling as I had hoped.

This book isn't bad by any means, but I just couldn't get engaged with it. I wish I could attribute the problem to something specific.

At first, I really found the voice in this story interesting. Later I found it irritating.

I received this boom via Netgally for an honest review.

I was really looking forward to this book, I thought the whole concept of exploring the Borden murders was exciting and new however this book just failed to deliver for me. This book dragged in places with the story jumping between timelines on the same page which at times got confusing and tedious, I did find all the sections about the murder well done and I feel the author did a good job of unnerving me, Lizzie was a very complex character and her chapter were very quirky, I do feel she probably had some sort of mental health issue.

I found the ending a bit disappointing and would have liked a bit more, especially maybe some more of the trial which is only briefly touched upon, I would have liked to see more of Lizzie’s answers to what happened. After reading this though I have a few doubts in my mind whether or not Lizzie actually did murder her parents but I guess we shall never truly know.

Over all not a bad read but wasn’t blow any by it

I love how this book revisits the Lizzie Borden story. It was disturbing yet intriguing. I found the writing drew me into the story and I enjoyed it very much.

2.5 Stars

This was kind of a struggle for me to get through. I really enjoy stories about Lizzy Borden but the Lizzy presented in this story was so unbelievably annoying, I was happy to have other POV to read from. Specifically Bridget, she was my favorite character in the story and the most believable. I don’t really think this needed to be as long as it was, and there were quite a few story lines that I didn’t feel were necessary for the story. Essentially this story didn’t offer any surprises, or anything that we haven’t all heard before with regards to the Borden murders.

My one question that I had when finally finishing the story is, did Bridget ever get her tin back? I really would’ve liked more about what happened to her after the trial and everything was over.

Received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have always been fascinated by the tale of Lizzie Borden, and this book gave just enough new details, giving the story a fantastic creative spin!

My Review:

What I Liked:


Characters. Schmidt was able to capture the various characters who were based on real people in great and intriguing ways. The book is told from Lizzie's point of view but it is also told from her sister, Emma's point of view, the maid Bridget, and Benjamin. I enjoyed seeing the point of view of Emma and the outside view of the maid, it made the story more rounded and interesting.


Writing. The main aspect of the novel that I loved was Schmidt's writing style. She goes back in forth in time but it a way that works with the story. She also had a beautiful lyrical style of writing that had me reading the novel for hours.


Retelling. I went in blind to the novel, only knowing that it had to do with Lizzie Bordon and was pleasantly surprised how good it was. I loved the way Schmidt retold the story, focusing more on the family than the trial. It was interesting that she had the timeline of the true story and the wills of the Borden sisters.


What I Disliked:


POV. I really enjoyed the multiple points of view but there was one character who was hard to read, Benjamin. Some of his chapters were pretty graphic and hard to get through. I was not a fan of the character.


Graphic. I did not care for some of the violent/graphic parts, with the murders and other things. I understand that is part of the story but some of it felt unneeded.


I recommend checking out this great literary fiction look into the Lizzie Borden mystery, I had a hard time putting it down.


My Rating:


4.5 Stars Out of 5 Stars

I did not like this book at all. I'm a huge follower and researcher of Lizzie Borden so I thought I would really like this book. Wow the exact opposite was true. All the characters were so strange and not right in the head. I just couldn't follow what was going on and why things were being done that were done. Total miss on this book

As soon as I finished See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt I thought of a quote by Dr. Seuss.

“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” – Dr. Seuss

I thought, “No Dr., in this case, I’m crying because it’s over and I’m crying tears of joy! If you follow me on social media then you probably know how much I have struggled with this book since I started reading it three weeks ago. I wanted to like it.; truly I did. When I first picked it up, I wanted to read it then rave about it on social media and my blog. But, I’ll be damned if this book didn’t bore me to sleep almost every single night. I came up with excuses for it and claimed I was simply too tired to read. That was fine at first but when it happened night after night after night I had to admit it wasn’t me, it was the book.

Sarah Schmidt is an amazing writer, no doubt about it. Her descriptions are intense and when the occasion was right, they were stomach-churning. Everything from the crime scene to the weird family relationships had just the right amount of ick factor. It was enough to make me cringe but not enough to turn me away. The horrible awkwardness was perfect but the story didn’t go anywhere. I kept hoping for the plot to be as good as the descriptive setting but it never did.

Every chapter in See What I Have Done is written from a different POV. We have Lizzie, Emma (the sister), Bridget (the maid), and Benjamin (Uncle John’s hired…assassin?). It was really disjointed as we hop from character to character. Sometimes the book retells the same scene from a different POV and sometimes it’s a completely different moment. There was never really any clarity into who Benjamin was and what Uncle John wanted him to do. I mean, was he hired to kill Mr. Borden? Was he just supposed to scare him? Was he an assassin? I mean, what was his deal?!

The whole time I was reading this book I wanted Schmidt to take a stand. This is supposed to be a work of fiction yet it felt like she just regurgitated facts and filled in random details without ever giving us a complete story. *SPOILER* There is no ending. She takes no stand. We have no idea who this tale claims killed Mr. and Mrs. Borden. Maybe that was my problem with this book. I wanted a conclusion and I wanted Schmidt to take a stand with her opinion on what happened. Whether she went with Lizzie being the murderer or she opted to pursue the theories that Bridget (the maid) or Benjamin (the intruder) killed them, didn’t matter. I wanted to see her do historical research, come to her own conclusion, and give her readers a complete journey as she imagined it happening. Instead, we got a half-told story from 4 perspectives that ultimately led nowhere.

Then again, what do I know? Other people loved it.

A hard, hard pass; there's lyrical, dreamlike prose and then there's this awful, unreadable mess. If I could slap some sense into this novel I would but, since it's not a person, I will lay this to one side and never speak of it again.

The writing was amazing. Seriously some of the most descriptive sensory writing I’ve ever read. I wasn’t super into the story itself though.